Milwaukee @ St. Louis preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 19, 2018 ) Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 1

Both the visiting Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals carry some momentum into a three-game series beginning Monday night that will go a long way toward sorting out the wild-card picture in the National League. The Brewers took two of three at Pittsburgh to begin their final road trip of the year, capped by Sunday's 13-6 rout behind another big effort by MVP candidate Christian Yelich (2-for-3, home run, three RBIs).

The win kept Milwaukee 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central and two games ahead of the Cardinals for the first wild-card spot. St. Louis has won six of seven after a 9-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday and holds a 1 1/2-game lead over Colorado for the second wild card with six to play. The Brewers and Cardinals have split 16 meetings this year but Milwaukee was limited to exactly two runs in each of the last six encounters while going 2-4. Jack Flaherty will try to keep that trend alive when he starts the series opener for St. Louis, while the Brewers will enter one of their biggest series in years with a bullpen game.

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee), FS Midwest (St. Louis)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Brewers TBD vs. Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (8-8, 3.08 ERA)

Chase Anderson, who was originally scheduled to start Monday, reportedly will be available out of the bullpen in this one but will not take the first inning, in which he has a 6.30 ERA. Manager Craig Counsell said that star left-hander Josh Hader will not be the opener but the young All-Star is rested after not pitching in the last two games. The same goes for closer Jeremy Jeffress, who has 8 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings over his last eight appearances.

Flaherty allowed three runs or fewer in eight straight starts before giving up five over 4 2/3 innings in a loss at Atlanta on Wednesday. He is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA and a whopping 29 strikeouts across 18 innings against the Brewers this year. The former first-round pick boasts a 2.74 ERA in 11 home starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yelich is 12-for-22 during his six-game hitting streak to raise his NL-leading batting average to .322.

2. Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong (cramps) has missed two straight games and is considered day-to-day.

3. Brewers INF Travis Shaw had two homers and four RBIs in the series against Pittsburgh.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 6, Brewers 4